Lithograph print of Leo Tolstoy in Yasnaya Polyana, 1908.
Photo by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky.

Why have I never heard of this guy before? No, not Tolstoy.

Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky (1863-1944) was a Russian chemist and photographer. He is best known for his pioneering work in colour photography of early 20th century Russia.

His own research yielded patents for producing colour film slides and for projecting colour motion pictures. His process used a camera that took a series of three monochrome pictures in sequence, each through a different coloured filter. By projecting all three monochrome pictures using correctly-coloured light, it was possible to reconstruct the original colour scene.

Take a few minutes to read the full wiki; it’s interesting.  A few more prints here, and a tip of the hat to @therapysessions for tweeting that link and sparking my interest.